Agents tell Levein clients want his job

UNDER-FIRE Craig Levein last night admitted that he has suffered the indignity of being contacted by agents putting forward their clients for his job. And the Hearts boss confessed that fielding such enquiries — in his dual role as director of football at Tynecastle — has been tougher to handle than the constant speculation about his future. Despite his team sitting bottom of the Premiership after a dismal run, Levein was this week given an extensive public vote of confidence by majority shareholder Ann Budge. Desperately in need of a positive result in tomorrow’s crunch Edinburgh derby at Easter Road, the former Scotland manager shrugged off talk of the board already having a shortlist of potential candidates in case of further disaster. ‘That is the world I live in — or the world I choose to live in,’ he said. ‘It is not as bad as me getting calls from agents directly, asking if someone can have my job. That has happened more than a couple of times. ‘They phone me as director of football — and that’s been happening for a year or something like that. ‘I think initially they didn’t realise I was the manager as

well. Recently, I think they just feel that if they get in first, then they might have a chance. I didn’t play along for long.’ Welcoming Budge’s public backing, which was delivered in a lengthy statement earlier this week, Levein added: ‘Ann does her own thing and, contrary to what people think, I don’t have any influence on that. ‘We talk every day or every second day, depending on circumstances or what has happened on each individual day, just to keep her up to speed. ‘I don’t think there is once in the past five years I have known her when she has had a knee-jerk reaction to anything. ‘So it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. And my big thing now is to show that her faith in me, the players and backroom staff was justified.’ Levein’s Hibs counterpart Paul Heckingbottom, who is also under huge pressure with his team having picked up just one point from their last four league games, revealed that he has been placing more responsibility on his players ahead of tomorrow’s vital showdown. And the Yorkshireman called for his side to show some character after last weekend’s 2-0 defeat at Kilmarnock, hoping the work they have done in training this week will give them the tools to succeed against their fierce rivals. ‘We’ve got a good group of lads here but we need an edge,’ said Heckingbottom. ‘You’ve got to be honest with each other, you’ve got to tell people if they’re not doing their jobs. ‘We’re really clear in what’s expected of them but — well, Sunday’s a perfect example — they’re not going to be able to hear me from the sideline. ‘They’ve got to be willing to dig each other out, encourage each other and demand from

each other. We’ve been practising it a bit in training and putting bigger expectations on the players. ‘What you can’t do is accept what you get, you’ve always got to be striving and trying to get better, always, regardless of what your results are right at that moment. ‘So it’s good habits, we’ve started building some good habits.’ Heckingbottom is keen for another taste of the winning feeling he enjoyed in April last season when his Hibs team triumphed 2-1 at the home of their city foes. ‘We saw it when we won away last season at Tynecastle, it was only three points but the feeling of it was immense, really enjoyable,’ added the 42-year-old former Leeds United and Barnsley boss. ‘We were speaking last week about it, it magnifies all emotion and magnifies all feelings, so you want to make sure it’s a positive feeling you’re getting because everything is magnified in these games. ‘That’s obviously the importance of them, that’s the significance of them and it’s why we all enjoy them. ‘Any time you get this game, it’s a special game. It probably adds a bit more edge to it that both teams are desperate for a victory.’ While Heckingbottom insisted there was no room for mercy in tomorrow’s clash, he said there remains a healthy respect between the bosses. ‘There is a respect there because you know the job they are trying to do and how hard managers work, what comes with the job and the sacrifices you make for it,’ he added. ‘But there cannot be sympathy. There is an understanding but there cannot be sympathy. We are trying to beat each other, and that will be no different this time.’